The thing about “compromise” and “negotiations” as used here is the effort to create a false equivalency between GOP hostage-taking and Democratic officials who simply want to keep the government running. Of course, these notions of “compromise” are based on the absurd premise that simply funding the government is itself a concession on the part of Republicans, and Democrats now should return the favor by agreeing to their objective of undermining the health care reform law. That is neither compromise nor negotiation, that is instead extortion

When not defending the planet from inevitable apocalypse at the rotting hands of the undead, JT is a writer and public speaker about atheism, gay rights, and more. He spent two and a half years with the Secular Student Alliance as their first high school organizer. During that time he built the SSA’s high school program and oversaw the development of groups nationwide. JT is also the co-founder of the popular Skepticon conference and served as the events lead organizer during its first three years.

sparkyb

I felt like I’d read that before. Turns out it is a near exact paraphrasing of a section of that TPM article you linked at the bottom of your last post. Just thought I should point that out.

GubbaBumpkin

the absurd premise that simply funding the government is itself a concession on the part of Republicans

And only for a couple of months! Who knows what the next list of demands would have been when the continuing resolution runs out again.

baal

You’re being held up at gun point. You might want to preserve your life or well being and hand over your wallet but it would be wrongful to call the discussion / acts negotiation and compromise.

In short: it’s already the law and has been declared constitutional, so there is nothing to negotiate about.

Also, the Republicans have lost the election and most people want the ACA.

Greg G.

I saw that last night. I liked how Stewart showed the Republican talking point about how Obama will negotiate with the Muslims and the Russians but he won’t negotiate with the Republicans. Stewart point out that if Obama can work out deals with Putin and the mullahs, maybe the problem isn’t the president.

Yoav

Unlike congressional republicans, Putin and Hamenai didn’t meet on election night 2008 and declared that their number one priority is to make sure Obama can achieve nothing.

Baby_Raptor

Well, yes. Here in reality, that is indeed what happened.

In Bagger land, a bunch of illegitimate voters (non-whites, non-straights, women who want bodily autonomy, people who accept government aid…) went out and voted anyway, and thus the election was stolen.

I wish I was making this up, but no. I’ve heard it from someone.

baal

I’ve heard the same type of person suggest that the poor don’t need anymore aid if they managed to get to the polls or that if they are on the fat side, the last thing they need is food aid.

Baby_Raptor

I’ve never understood begrudging someone transportation, at least down here in the South where public transit is a pipe dream. How are people supposed to work to pull themselves up by those holy bootstraps if they can’t get about to find a job?

http://gamesgirlsgods.blogspot.com/ Feminerd

Oh please, everyone can afford a car. And gas for the car. And money for registration and inspection. And money for fixing it when it breaks. This is Amurica!

It’s really interesting if you look at the public’s opinion as a function of how they are asked about it. If asked about “Obamacare”, ~46% oppose it. Compare this to the ~37% who oppose the “ACA”. When asked about individual components of the act, support ranges between ~60-85% (depending on the specific part asked about). I think it just goes to show how little people actually know what’s going on with the act (or have let their prejudices against democrats, etc inform their decision), but would perhaps be even more in favor if they were better informed.

It’s disingenuous for the republicans to say things like “we’re doing this because the public is against this, and it just got pushed into effect without any discussion”, when there was not only already compromise and negotiations, but also Obama’s campaign on the ACA and his subsequent re-election. You can’t hold the country hostage and simultaneously claim that you just want to “do things by the book” and all you’re looking for is “compromise and negotiation”.

John

Can you include a link to your father’s writing, please. Have you encouraged him to write a blog?

UWIR

Obama proposed a bill. Many people in Congress didn’t like it. Obama negotiated with them, and compromised on some issues. The ACA was the result. Obama has already negotiated and compromised. The idea of a compromise is that you get the other person to meet you halfway, not that you get them to meet you halfway, then say “Okay, now that you’ve agreed to that, can you meet me halfway from that point?”

If I want to kick Boehner in the nuts, would it be a compromise to just slap him?

Greg G.

“If I want to kick Boehner in the nuts, would it be a compromise to just slap him?”

Yes, but you could compromise again at a later date by kicking him in the knee.

Lurker111

“If I want to kick Boehner in the nuts, would it be a compromise to just slap him?”

Yes, but this is only good for a month. Next month, you get to slap him all over again.

Edit: Eek. Sorry, Greg G., your post was off the bottom of my screen before I posted this. You had the idea first.

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